I'm getting ready to take off on my fulltiming adventure. As of about 20 minutes ago, THE BUS IS DONE. The last item scratched off the must do list.

Anyway, I have a full compliment of tools, both big and small. I have to more common tools in a 4 drawer tool box, then I have my woodworking tools in a large rolling bin and my heavy mechanics tools in another. The woodworking tools don't add up to much weight but some of the large mechanics tools are HEAVY and take up space and I may never need them. Will I need my big impact, 1" drive sockets, 18-24" adjustable wrenches, 1" - 2" combo wrenches? I'm afraid that if I don't have it, I'll need it, but if I don't need it, it's just costing fuel to haul it around. Probably would only need the big tools for suspension work, but to do that type of work I'd need my big jacks, compressor and probably torches, which I can't bring along anyway.

I have a place to leave what I can't take until I find another house, just don't want to short hand myself in the tool department out on the road. What I really need is a 1" breaker bar, but I can't find one anywere. 20 ton bottle jack and a 1" breaker bar would get a wheel off. I probably don't have the air capacity to run my big impact anyway.

Don't sweat the weight and your fuel consumption. The additional fuel used to haul tools is less than you'llbe able to measure or notice. About 60-70 HP rolls the machine down the road. The rest (a lot morethan that) goes to punching a hole through the air, especially over 50 mph. The fuel used to haul toolswill be less than a pint per hour out of 5-8 gallons per hour total consumption, depending on your speedand engine, and may well be a lot less than that, unless you're hauling a half-ton or so of tools andequipment.

Example: Years ago, I had a 1960 Ford F-250 3/4-ton pickup that got 16 miles per gallon with a223 cu. in. engine. Whether I was running empty or hauling 4000 pounds of stuff in the back,it got 16 miles per gallon at 60 miles per hour on the highway. Going up hills might affect it, butthat was usually compensated coming down, and the average was still 16 miles per gallon.

Ross; I travel full time and I also carry alot of tools. I say you can't carry enough stuff.Things break and the tools you leave behind will be the tools you will need.My wife complains I carry way to much,but when I fix something I remind her I had the tools on board to fix it.I also have a box made up with electrical stuff,meters and a large assortment of nuts,bolts,screws ,ets. I don't carry my welder and have not found the need for it yet.

Whenever I go on a trip in my car, I always carry a box of tools -- socket and combination wrenches,screw and nut drivers, hammer, and a few other things. It has saved me a lot of time, trouble, andmoney. I can always drop into a parts store and get what I need for any repairs, belt or bulb replacement,etc. but not be at the mercy of some local "mechanic" who may have no clue what he's doing, but youdon't know that until the damage is done.

I learned that lesson on a trip home in the early 1970s when a generator died on my Ford pickupand I had to stop at the Ford dealer for repair. If I'd had my tools, I could have handled the problemfor a mere 2 or 3 dollars for brushes, then finished the job "right" when I got home instead of havingto do it over because the dealership didn't have proper tools to turn the commutator. Of course,this was a 1960 model and they didn't provide alternators back then because the necessary diodesand solid-state regulators were rare and expensive. A simple operational amplifier chip was over$75 *wholesale* back then. A dramatically better one today costs about 30 cents.

Ross- I carry a complete tool box with sockets and combo wrenches up to 1 1/4". Also have two 18" adjustable wrenches for the big hose fittings; corded drill (don't have cordless-old fashion); drill bits, small amount of hardware; hand saw. What I don't have is any type of impact wrench or compressor (up and beyond the buses air); wood working tools etc. From being an owner/operator truck driver for 21 years, one of the things I learned is leave the big jobs for the professionals. I have NEVER cracked a wheel lug nut, or tried to change a tire, or do any kind of job bigger than maybe an alternator, starter, or battery by myself. The bus is just to big and heavy to be chancing using a bottle jack to hold it up to do a repair (you always break down in a bad and out of level place anyway). I'd rather pay for a tow to a repair shop than risk the consiquences. But-you'll do it your way. Good Luck, TomC

Well, it happened. I needed to fix my tag slack adjusters and the pins were frozen in. My torches are in storage and the bottles were leased, so I turned them in. I worked on thse pins for 3 hours, then went and borrrowed a set of torches. two minutes after lighting the torches, the pins were out. Since I had to remove the wheels, I also got a chance to try the big impact. It was totally useless. I broke the lugs loose with a 3/4" ratchet and bar and torqued them the same way.....So the big sockets and impact are stayin behind...but the torches are coming out of storage. Tomorrow morning I'm buying a set of small tanks...or maybe I'll buy tanks when I need them, but I'm bringing the torches along.

I see what you mean Tom...but being full time, I expect I'll be parked on a level pad a lot of the time and if I want to do some brake work, change an airbag, etc. I want to be able to do it. I don't consider that major work. Engine and transmission overhauls I consider major.

Ross, I know that you're concerned about carrying all the extra weight and all, so let me be the first among us to volunteer to relieve you of some weight. We'll be at Dallas' at the same time, so if you feel that you desperately need to divest yourself of some of that extra...I'll be more than happy to be the recipient.

Now, if some of that weight you're talking about happens to be 'Buddy' I surely wish you'd reconsider...but if that has to be the case...I'm amenable.

Hope all your problems work out...see ya at Timmonsville!

NCbob

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